Biography

Wetland function may be altered by climate change in the future because of shifts in water fluctuation, salinity intrusion, CO2 levels, and storm intensity. Beth Middleton studies the effects of climate change by examining patterns of function along latitudinal gradients in baldcypress swamps, monsoonal wetlands, mangrove swamps, northern peatleands, prairie fens, and floodplain wetlands. She has organized symposia, written three books, and edited three special journal volumes, which support multidisciplinary comparisons and research analysis of wetland function. Other research topics include the effects of hurricanes on coastal wetlands, flood pulsing in restoration, and biodiversity loss in fens of Europe, Asia and North America. Middleton developed a research network in baldcypress swamps (North American Baldcypress Swamp Network) and invites other researchers to work in these study sites dedicated to the study of long term function of swamps in the southeastern US.

Middleton, B.A. and U. Melkania. 1995. Decomposition of wet grassland species in a stream of the Himalayan terai, Pantnagar, Uttar Pradesh, India. International Journal of Ecology and Environmental Sciences 21:163-168. www.nieindia.org/ijees/abstracts/v21/abstrv21_163.asp

Middleton, B.A. 1993. Improvement of plant diversity in coal slurry ponds reclaimed as wetlands through treatment of the seed bank during drawdown. Final Report, National Mine Land Reclamation Center, Carbondale, IL.

Middleton, B.A. 1995. The role of flooding in seed dispersal: restoration of cypress swamps along the Cache River, Illinois. Final Report, U.S. Geological Survey and Water Resources Center, UILU-URC-94-220. /C15 http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/iwrc/pdf/220.pdf

The Wetland Book 1 is designed as a ‘first port-of-call’ reference work for information on the structure and functions of wetlands, current approaches to wetland management, and methods for researching and understanding wetlands. Contributions by experts summarize key concepts, orient the reader to the major issues, and support further...

Future climate and land-use change may wreak havoc on wetlands, with the potential to erode their values as harbors for biota and providers of human services. Wetlands are important to protect, particularly because these provide a variety of ecosystem services including wildlife habitat, water purification, flood storage, and storm protection (...

Coastal wetland responses to sea-level rise are greatly influenced by biogeomorphic processes that affect wetland surface elevation. Small changes in elevation relative to sea level can lead to comparatively large changes in ecosystem structure, function, and stability. The surface elevation table-marker horizon (SET-MH) approach is being used...

﻿﻿In 2008, the U.S. Congress authorized the establishment of the National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center (NCCWSC) within the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI). Housed administratively within the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), NCCWSC is part of the DOI’s ongoing mission to meet the challenges of climate change and its effects on...

While disturbances such as fire, cutting, and grazing can be an important part of the conservation of natural lands, some adjustments to management designed to mimic natural disturbance may be necessary with ongoing and projected climate change. Stressed vegetation that is incapable of regeneration will be difficult to maintain if adults are...

PREMISE OF THE STUDY: Studies of natural genetic variation can elucidate the genetic basis of phenotypic variation and the past population structure of species. Our study species, Taxodium distichum, is a unique conifer that inhabits the flood plains and swamps of North America. Morphological and ecological differences in two varieties, T....

PREMISE OF THE STUDY: The nature of regeneration dynamics after hurricane flooding and salinity intrusion may play an important role in shaping coastal vegetation patterns.
METHODS: The regeneration potentials of coastal species, types and gradients (wetland types from seaward to landward) were studied on the Delmarva Peninsula after Hurricane...

As global agriculture intensifies, cultural knowledge of wetland utilization has eroded as natural resources become more stressed, and marginal farmers move away from the land. The excellent paper by Fawzi et al. (2016) documents a particularly poignant case of traditional knowledge loss among the Marsh Arab women of Iraq. Through interviews, the...

Hurricane wind and surge may have different influences on the subsequent composition of forests. During Hurricane Sandy, while damaging winds were highest near landfall in New Jersey, inundation occurred along the entire eastern seaboard from Georgia to Maine. In this study, a comparison of damage from salinity intrusion vs. wind/surge was...

Cattle grazing drives successional change in wetland vegetation by removing tall grasses and other vegetation. As a disturbance, cattle grazing in some ways resembles natural disturbances such as native mammal grazing and lightning-strike fire, which can support higher biodiversity in wetlands. To encourage rare and Red-Listed species, natural...

Climate change will challenge managers to balance the freshwater needs of humans and wetlands. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts that most regions of the world will be exposed to higher temperatures, CO2, and more erratic precipitation, with some regions likely to have alternating episodes of intense flooding and mega-drought...

Succession refers to the change in vegetation over time driven by disturbances and the maturation of plant species. In wetlands, these disturbances include water and salinity level changes along other factors that can alter vegetation. The historical view of succession (Clementsian) was that vegetation change represented the linear progression of...